How to Register a Trade Mark in France with INPI: A Practical Guide

A French national trade mark protects your brand across France, and it is granted by the National Institute of Industrial Property (Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle, abbreviated INPI), the national office that administers trade marks, patents and designs in France. This guide explains who can apply, where a foreign applicant stands on local representation, how clearance and classification work, and how INPI's examination, publication, opposition procedure and renewal fit together. It also sets out the strategic choice that matters most for France: whether to file a national INPI mark, an EU trade mark covering the whole bloc, or to reach France through the Madrid Protocol.

A word on institutions before anything else, because this is where foreign applicants most often go wrong. INPI is the French national office. It is not the same body as the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which grants the EU-wide trade mark and the registered EU design, nor the European Patent Office (EPO), which deals with patents rather than trade marks. A French national mark and an EU trade mark are distinct rights, granted by different offices under different law, even though both have effect in France. Getting that distinction right is the foundation of any sensible French filing strategy, and it runs through the comparison set out in our guide to a national mark versus an EU trade mark.

Who can apply

There is no nationality or residence requirement to own a French trade mark. Any natural or legal person, from anywhere in the world, can apply to INPI and hold a registration. You do not need a business presence in France to file.

What can differ for an applicant based abroad is representation. Where an applicant has no domicile, seat or establishment within the European Union or the European Economic Area, the general position is that the applicant must appoint a representative authorised to act before the office (a French industrial property attorney or a lawyer) to act in proceedings before INPI. Note that this turns on presence in the EU or EEA rather than the European Union alone, and the rules on who may act and when representation becomes necessary are version-specific, so confirm the current requirement with INPI's official guidance or with qualified French counsel rather than assuming. In practice most foreign businesses appoint a French trade mark attorney in any event, because proceedings are conducted in French and procedural detail rewards local expertise.

Searching and clearance before you file

Clearance is the step most often skipped and most often regretted. The reason it matters so much in France is structural: INPI examines a new application for absolute grounds (whether the sign is registrable in itself), but it does not refuse an application simply because an earlier identical or similar mark already exists. French trade mark rights are acquired by registration on a first-to-file basis, with limited exceptions for genuine prior use and for well-known marks, which is precisely why a clearance search before you file matters so much. Conflicts with earlier rights are left to be raised by the owners of those rights through the opposition procedure after the application is published, or through a later invalidity action. That allocation of responsibility means the burden of checking for earlier conflicting marks falls on you, the applicant, before you file. Treat this as the working position and confirm the procedural detail with counsel.

A sensible clearance exercise looks beyond identical marks to confusingly similar ones, across the goods and services you actually use or intend to use. It should account for earlier French national marks, earlier EU trade marks (which have effect in France), and international registrations designating France or the EU. It should also reach beyond the register: in France, earlier company names, trade names, domain names, certain well-known marks and other earlier signs can in some circumstances found an opposition or a later challenge, so register searching alone is not a complete picture. INPI's own database and the TMview tool are useful starting points, but similarity and likelihood-of-confusion judgements are exactly the kind of assessment that benefits from a vetted local firm.

Goods, services and the Nice classification

France uses the Nice Classification, the international system of classes covering goods and services. You select the classes that match your offering and specify the terms within them. Two points repeatedly catch applicants out. First, the scope of your protection is defined by the specific terms you list, not by a broad class heading, so describe your goods and services plainly rather than relying on a heading to sweep in everything in a class. Second, official fees apply and the basic application fee may cover a set number of classes with further fees for additional classes; confirm the current amount and structure with INPI or local counsel, because padding the specification both raises cost and can expose the mark to non-use cancellation later. Claim only what you genuinely use or intend to use.

Examination, filing and fees

A French application is filed electronically through INPI's online portal and requires the applicant's details, a clear representation of the mark, the list of goods and services with their classes, and payment of the official application fee. Official fees apply and are version-specific, so confirm the current amount with INPI (or with the EUIPO if you are weighing the EU route) or with local counsel rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere.

Once filed, the application is examined on absolute grounds. The examiner checks formalities, classification, and whether the sign is registrable in itself, for example whether it is distinctive and not purely descriptive or generic for the goods and services claimed, and whether any other absolute bar applies, such as signs contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality. INPI does not, of its own motion, refuse a mark because of conflict with an earlier third-party right; that is a matter for opposition. If the examiner raises an objection you are given an opportunity to respond, amend the specification or argue the point. The application is then published, which opens the window for third parties to oppose.

Publication and the INPI opposition procedure

This is the French feature most worth understanding. Because relative grounds are not examined by the office, the mechanism for challenging an application on the basis of an earlier right is opposition before INPI, and it generally runs in a defined window that begins after the application is published. The period within which an earlier-rights holder must file is set by law, so state it generically and confirm the current length and start point with INPI or counsel rather than treating any figure as fixed.

An opponent may rely on earlier French marks, earlier EU trade marks, earlier international registrations with effect in France, and certain other earlier rights such as company names, trade names, domain names or protected geographical indications. The opposition procedure is adversarial and runs to a timetable; many oppositions resolve by agreement or coexistence, and a case that proceeds may end with the application refused for some goods or services and maintained for others. Beyond opposition, INPI also hears administrative actions for invalidity and revocation (including for non-use), which were strengthened so that more disputes can be resolved before the office rather than the courts. Because the outcome turns on similarity, likelihood of confusion and the strength of the earlier right, this is a clear moment to take advice from a vetted local firm, whether you are defending an application or bringing a challenge.

Registration and renewal

Where the application clears examination and any opposition, and the prescribed fees are paid, the mark proceeds to registration and is entered on the register. A French trade mark is registered for a fixed protection term and can then be renewed for further periods on payment of the renewal fee. A grace period after expiry may apply on payment of a surcharge. The exact length of the term, the renewal window around expiry and the length of any grace period are version-specific, so state them generically and confirm the current periods with INPI or counsel. Official renewal fees apply and depend on the number of classes, so confirm the current amount with INPI. A registered mark must also be put to genuine use: if it is not genuinely used in France within the statutory period, it becomes vulnerable to revocation for non-use, which is a recurring trap for owners who register defensively across many classes and then use the mark only narrowly.

National INPI mark, EU trade mark, or Madrid Protocol

The strategic choice for protecting a brand in France comes down to three routes. The first is a national INPI mark, which protects France only and is examined under French law by the French office. The second is an EU trade mark, filed with the EUIPO, which gives a single right covering the whole European Union, France included, but which can be refused or invalidated across the entire EU by an earlier right or an absolute ground that exists in even one member state. The third is an international registration under the Madrid Protocol, administered by WIPO, in which you designate France, the EU, or both as part of a single international filing based on a basic application or registration in the applicant's home office.

The national route suits a business focused on France specifically, or one that wants a French-only right insulated from EU-wide vulnerabilities. The EU route is usually more efficient when you want broad European coverage from one filing and can accept the unitary nature of the right; the all-or-nothing concern is softened in some cases by conversion, because an EU trade mark that is refused, withdrawn or ceases to have effect can sometimes be converted into national applications (a French one included) that keep the original filing date. Conversion is subject to conditions and exclusions, however, and is not a clean safety net in every case, so confirm whether it is available on your facts with the EUIPO or local counsel. The trade-offs are set out in our guide to a national mark versus an EU trade mark. The Madrid route is attractive when you are filing across several countries at once and want one centralised application, though an international registration depends on the basic mark for an initial period and so carries a central-attack risk during that window. Our guide to the Madrid Protocol covers that mechanism in detail. For the wider picture of protecting a brand in France, see the French trade marks pillar.

A note on scope and advice

IPEnvoy is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The above is general information to help you orient a decision, not a substitute for professional guidance. Trade mark fees, statutory periods and procedural details change and are specific to the version in force when you file, which is why this guide points you to official sources rather than quoting fixed figures. Before committing to a filing strategy, confirm the current position with INPI's official website and a qualified French IP professional.